Hate Can Only Lead To One Thing
by Zammie9123
Summary: Engines rev. Doors slam. Converse. Jeans. Dark brown tousled hair. The smirk. The sunglasses. Hate at first sight... But you know what they say... ...Hate can only lead to one thing.
1. Chapter 1

Hate Only Leads To One Thing...

Chapter 1-

Zach POV:

I was starting at another school, all I seemed to do was change schools, but I had a feeling this time was going to be different. This was a new start; no-one knew me here at Gallagher High School. It wouldn't be like at Blackthorne Academy, I could put the past behind me, make new friends and just be myself. I didn't know where to go, I hate the feeling when everyone knows where they are going but you don't. The first day of term is always the worst, not knowing anyone but then I saw them. Grant, Jonas and Preston leaning against a red Lamborghini, I had really missed my old friends, but as much as I wanted to go and greet them I was a little distracted by the group of girls standing in the car park, one in particular, one who seemed to be easy to miss by others but not to me. I couldn't take my eyes off her. I wondered what I should do, should I show her the Goode charm or go and see Grant, Jonas and Preston?

I then noticed the girl I had seen go off to what seemed to be her locker and I decided that Grant, Jonas and Preston would be slightly disappointed if I let a girl as beautiful as her slip through my fingers. She is such a mystery, but her grey eyes captivate me. As she put her books neatly inside her locker I leaned against the locker next to hers and smirked at her. I looked down to the irresistibly beautiful girl with long dishwater blonde hair that looked incredibly soft. I had a sudden urge to run my fingers through it. I was wondering if she was ever going to notice me when she sent me a confused look out of the corner of her eyes. I waited another minute to see if she would be polite and start up a conversation, but she didn't, only sending me sneaky glances from the corner of her eyes every now and then.

As she was clearly trying to ignore me, I guess I had better introduce myself, "Hi, I'm Zach Goode. I just started today"

She looked at me and replied, "I'm Cammie." She shut her locker hard and went to join her friends without even a glance behind her, who just so happened to be talking to Grant, Jonas and Preston. She seemed mad, had I done something wrong or was she just not the kind of person I assumed she was. I stared after her, watching her hips sway slightly as she fiercely walked over to her group of friends, her arms swinging back and forth as she started to approach the group, muttering as she went. She didn't seem impressed with the Zach Goode charm. Although I was slightly shocked, I tried not to show it. Normally girls can't resist my smirk, had my Goode charm not worked?

Cammie POV:

Urgh! I can't believe what he just did. That, that Zach Goode. I knew his type, the cocky type. I can't stand him and I had only just met him. I couldn't take catching glimpses of his smirk and emerald green eyes anymore so I went to join the girls who had each gathered their books from their lockers and started up a conversation with Grant, Preston and Jonas, their secret crushes.

I walked over to the girls trying to calm down after the Zach situation whilst muttering under my breath about the nerve Zach had.

"Hey guys, you'll never guess what just happened. Zach Goode, the new kid, tried to hit on me. Urgh! He thinks that he just needs to flash that smirk and he will get everything he wants." I was finding it very hard to control my feelings, I felt my face burning red and becoming very hot as I thought about how much nerve he had.

As I said it, the boys heads all shot up, looked at each other and all chorused, "Wait, who? Did you just say Zach Goode?" Wait, did they know him? Had they seen him earlier this morning or known him before today? I could feel his eyes burning through my head, he was coming. I could hear him approaching, his shoes shuffling along the floor. I was losing my patience, I had got up early to decide on a Macey-approved outfit for the first day of school so I was deprived of an extra half an hour of sleep. Just as I was about to spin round on my feet, he plastered that smirk on his face again and approached us.

Zach stood in front of me, the boys looking amazed as he said confidently "Did I just hear my name? Hey guys, I haven't seen you in ages, maybe 6 or 7 years?" As he said this, he did that weird man hug and handshake that it seems every boy seemed to know. "So are you going to introduce me to your friends? It seems I've already met the ever so friendly and welcoming Cammie."

I rolled my eyes as he said this, that sarcastic smirker! Bex stepped forward as everyone seemed deep in thought, analysing Zach. "Hi, my name is Rebecca but call me that and you won't live another day. You can just call me Bex." Grant chuckled as Bex said her piece, it was obvious they liked each other, well to everyone but them. She continued, "this is Macey and here is Liz." Just as she said this, the bell rang. Me and Liz, each grabbed Macey and Bex's hands and ran to class, we didn't want to be late for our first day of the term.

As we ran down the corridors, Macey called over my shoulder, "He didn't seem that bad, he seemed pretty friendly and the boys obviously like him. I don't know why you don't like him." I rolled my eyes at this comment and stopped in the middle of the corridor.

"Firstly, he thinks he can get anything with that smirk, secondly he thinks he is all that and thirdly we don't even know him that well." As the late bell rang, all three of my friends grabbed my wrist and dragged me into the classroom, just before Professor Buckingham entered, ready to take the register.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-

Zach's POV:

I watched as the girls ran down the corridor. I was about to join them when I felt a strong tap on my shoulder; I turned to find a blonde haired boy, nearly as tall as me but nowhere near as good looking. It only took me a few moments to recognise this supposedly mysterious character. My childhood rival, Jimmy.

I remember clearly who he was, he broke my limited edition Thomas the Tank Engine train set. After that he was no friend of mine.

'Zach, I'm your tour guide, so hurry up or we'll be late.'

'Shut up Jimmy'

'It's Josh!'

'Whatever...' I mutter. I thought I had better follow him, as the girls were no longer in my sight, and I did need to get to class, so I huff and reluctantly follow him down the corridor to Physics. As we enter, we join the line of students waiting for the teacher to place us where she wants us to sit. I just hope I wasn't sitting next to Jimmy.

The line of students slowly lessen as the teacher rattles off names. The next time I look, there are only ten students left to be seated; Grant, Preston, Liz, Bex, Macey, Jonas, Jimmy, a girl called Dee-Dee and Cammie. In the end, Grant and Bex sit next to each other, Liz and Jonas sit together, Preston and Macey sit next to each other, as did Jimmy and Dee-Dee. At that moment, I realise me and Cammie were the only two standing at the front of the classroom and instantly assumed we were sitting together.

"Class, this is Zachary Goode, he is new here. I want you to make him feel very welcome. Now Zachary - "

Please, Professor -" I trailed off as I realised I didn't know her name.

"Buckingham, Professor Buckingham." She replied, once realising she hadn't introduced herself.

"Please, Professor Buckingham. Everyone calls me Zach." I say, the need to stop her calling me Zachary was overwhelming.

"Well Zach, you will be sitting with Cammie." I smirk as I hear her sigh under her breath and roll her eyes, she really doesn't like me. Well, it can't be any worse than sitting next to Jimmy. I follow her to the only free table at the back of the classroom. Professor Buckingham waited patiently until we had taken our seats and then continued to talk about The Big Bang.

I space out after she has been talking for five minutes. I didn't want to have enemies, let alone a gorgeous, smart one like Cammie. I moved to Gallagher to get away from enemies I had made in the past, I didn't want to make new ones. How was I going to get Cammie to like me?

Then I had a lightbulb moment. I would write Cammie a note, apologising. For what, I'm not sure but girls always like to think that they are right all the time, boys will blow off their steam in sports or whatever, case closed. I grab my notebook, slowly as not to make Professor Buckingham suspicious. I didn't want to be in trouble on my first day. I have the rest of the year for that! Especially now that I go to the same school as Grant. I gently rip a page out of my black notebook, carefully as not to make too much noise and arouse Professor Buckingham. I write down a message in my lazy handwriting that looked just a bit like scribbles - what? I haven't written much over the Summer. I just hope Cammie would forgive me for whatever she thinks I have done.

_Cammie, I am not sure what I have done to make you so mad. Can we not just be friends? -Z_

Cammie's POV:

I sit at my desk not even making eye contact with Zach and try to focus on what Professor Buckingham was saying; I'm not doing a very good job at it. I open up my text book when suddenly I feel something on my hand. I look down to see a small piece of paper with my name on it. Curious, I open up the note and saw that it was from Zach. Are you kidding me? Him of all people! Why does he keep on bothering me? Once I saw it was from him, I don't even bother to read the note, I don't want to hear what he has to say. Nothing he could say would make me change my opinion about him. I roll my eyes as I rip it up. I saw out of the corner of my eye, Zach looking at me in disbelief as I ripped up the note. His expression then shows annoyance and anger as he sighs in frustration. I couldn't help but smirk at that as I leaned back in my chair with a satisfying look on my face.

After what felt like an eternity of awkwardness and feeling uncomfortable , the bell finally rang. I hurriedly pack away all of my books and leave without another glance at Zach. I actually feel quite scared of what his reaction will be...

Zach's POV:

I cannot believe what she just did! There was me trying to be nice to her and apologise - For what? I still don't know. Well, I am not going to embarrass myself anymore by apologising to her again. I have had enough of her, thinking she is too good for anyone. If she wants to be difficult then fine. I didn't want any enemies here at Gallagher, I had made enough at Blackthorne. This was supposed to be a new start but if she wants a challenge, then she's going to get one.

I just can't believe she ripped the note up in front of me, without even reading it. I can't believe she could be so rude. She is nothing like what I assumed she would be like when I first set my eyes on her. Feisty yes, rude no. If she wants me as an enemy, then that's what she will get. No more Mr Nice Guy.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3-

Cammie POV

I had made my way to our PE lesson with Bex and Macey when I noticed Liz wasn't with us. Where was she? She hardly ever did anything without us, not wanting to mix with the 'popular' people.

"Where's Liz?" I asked, curious.

"She has an excuse to miss out, something to do with extra credit." Macey muttered. Liz and her extra credit, I thought smiling. She was already on top of her work and top of every class.

This term we were supposed to do cross-country but due to the unpredictable weather I had hoped we would have to cancel it, but of course not because the world is against me today. Firstly I meet Zach, secondly I have to sit next to Zach, and lastly, I have cross-country WITH Zach! What had I done wrong in my life, or in a past life to still receive this punishment?

"Right," Mr Solomon said, once we had all strolled leisurely, trying to waste as much time as possible before we had to force ourselves to run. In a way we were very lucky to have such a space available to us, we were just unlucky that cross-country was on our syllabus. The problem with cross-country I discovered was not the fact that I was bad at it- because I wasn't- I just still found it immensely tiring and pointless. "The start line is here, you will have a goal to run this track five times over. To save time, you will all be running at the same time. Enjoy." He finished off with. Enjoy, I scoffed. Who enjoys cross-country? Does he think we are mad?

Making my way to the start with Bex and Macey, I collided with Zach who gave me a semi-harsh glare, which I returned. I did not know what his problem was! It was only Mr Solomon's piercing sound of a blown whistle that brought me out of my thoughts of Zach; due to this I had a bit of a late start. I managed to catch up and made sure that I kept my breathing even and my strides. I parked myself behind Bex in the upper half and kept my constant pace, a smile was brought to my lips when I saw Zach nearing the end of the pack. This made me smile. He wasn't going to beat me at this, I would make sure of that. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of beating me, giving him even more excuses to smirk, that damn smirk, at me. I turned the first corner of the track, and the faint breaths of others around me became more distinctive.

As I was nearing the end of my fourth lap I noticed that I was not as far ahead of Zach as I thought, this brought me displeasure! As I crossed the line to enter my fifth and final lap, I automatically sped up, determined to beat Zach and beat my highest score.

I was daydreaming as I continued to run around the track but something brought me out of my thoughts. Zach's ass! My jaw dropped. I would definitely not let him out do me, so I picked up the pace to try and catch up to him. I saw Zach look over his shoulder and guess what he did. He smirked at me. That was the last straw! I slowed down my breathing, breathing in and out as I just concentrated on Mr Solomon, standing at the finish line. It was only about 200 metres away, and I still had to catch up with Zach. If he beat me, I would never live it down. He would never let me forget it. The only way I could stop that from happening was by beating him.

I cleared my head of all of my thoughts and concentrated on the pounding sound of my feet as they quickened, trying to catch up to Zach. I was closer, it was working. I just had to remain calm and concentrate - I couldn't get distracted otherwise Zach would tease me forever. As I was coming up to 100 metres left, I noticed that Zach wasn't far in front - maybe 2 metres at the most. I quickened my pace and swung my arms, in the hope to go that bit faster. 50 metres left and we were almost drawing, I just needed to push myself a little bit more and it would all be over. I wouldn't have to hear Zach boast and gloat about how much better he was then me. As I crossed the finishing line, I glanced over to see where Zach was and he was in line with me, grinning and staring at me as he slowed to a stop.

Zach POV

As I was sprinting to the finish line, only 50 metres away, I wasn't concentrating, I was just thinking about Cammie. I was determined to beat her, she had started this war by being rude to me. I couldn't let her win. As I glanced back, I saw her rosy red cheeks, sweat trickling down her face as she caught up to me. I couldn't do this to her, I couldn't just speed off and humiliate her, I cared too much for her but then again I couldn't let her win so I kept at my pace not attempting to quicken it.

As we crossed the finishing line, I stared at Cammie and grinned. I studied her as she walked around the field with her hands on her head, gasping trying to gain her breath. She was perfect, if only she could be mine. After a few minutes, once everyone had crossed the line, I walked over to my group of friends, who just so happened to be talking to Cammie.

"So Gallagher Girl, I see you're a fast runner as well..." What? Wait! Why did I just say that? Gallagher Girl, where did that come from? I watched her as she comprehended what I had just said. She didn't respond but she glared at me before she confidently walked off, swaying her hips slightly as she walked to the changing rooms. Oh, how I wish I could redo my first day and make her like me.

I was too caught up in staring at Cammie's disappearing figure that I had not even noticed another presence, or more specifically Grant as he was the only other person who wore a smirk- failing to look as good as me though but then again he didn't have the Goode charm.

He nudged my shoulder and cocked his head to one side in a questioning manner. Why had I been staring at her? Grant would never let it go, he could read me like a book. He would know I liked her. What had I gotten myself into?

"Enjoying the view Zach?"

"I'm not as bad as you with Bex. You can't take your eyes off her - you can barely string a sentence together when she's around!" I knew that would shut him up; him and Bex are just as bad as Cammie and I. I shot a sideways glance at him to watch his expression. He opened his mouth as if to object but then thought better of it and shut his mouth again. Ha, I had made Grant Newman speechless! That was a first! I followed Jonas and Preston who had only just gone into the boys' locker room with a satisfied grin on my face.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 -

Cammies POV

Annoyed as I was at Zach and his infuriating smirk, I just let myself be pleased by the fact that I only had to suffer one more hour of his company before I would be free of him and that ever present smirk. I inwardly sighed, another whole hour to go. I wondered if Zach was in my Geography class, knowing my luck he probably was. I grabbed the rest of my stuff after changing back from my PE kit and started to make my way to Geography.

I walked into Dr Steve's class and sat down at my desk. I got all my books ready and saw Josh enter the classroom and sit down in the chair next to me.

"Hey Cammie" he said as he smiled at me, I couldn't help but notice how his smile wasn't quite as good as Zach's… Wait. Why was I comparing Zach to Josh? Stop it Cammie! You don't even like the guy! I forced myself to concentrate on what Josh was saying.

"Hi" I said as I returned the smile. I looked away from his eyes before I start blushing.

"Good afternoon class. Before we get started I have an announcement to make" as soon as Dr Steve said that, Zach walked into the classroom and sat down at the desk directly behind mine; what joy, and I was just beginning to believe that I wouldn't have to tolerate Zach for another hour.

"A group project scheme is to commence, I will sort the class into groups of three and no, you can not choose your groups!" This earned a groan from the class, mine joined them.

" Right, you three together," He said pointing to three people I only vaguely remember from last year. The annoying Tina Walters being one of them.

"Next, you three." This time he pointed at Josh and I and I immediately blushed, but that was only two of us... I heard a chair being pulled up to our table and almost regretted looking up.

"Well, isn't this going to be great." Said Zach, sarcasm lacing his voice as he sent a scornful glare to Josh. Josh returned that glare. What was that about?

I matched him with sarcasm as I said, "I just can't wait to begin." This earned a small smile from Zach and I felt my own broaden. Maybe we might actually get on during this project.

Dr Steve suddenly appeared next to Zach "You three will be writing your project on Madagascar. You are allowed to use your iPads in this lesson to help you with your research. Any questions?"

We all shook our heads.

"Excellent! Get started then" he said enthusiastically and walked off to another group. How could anyone be that enthusiastic about a group project? I will never know.

I grabbed my iPad and a notebook. I typed in Madagascar into my iPad, the low quality of the school's internet meant the page took ages to load.

"I don't get why a film about animated animals has anything to do with countries…" Josh muttered. I could not have heard him right; a film about animated animals? No one could be that ignorant, could they? Either way I sent him a look of dispain and was slightly pleased when I saw Zach giving him the same look. Why am I getting so pleased and happy with Zach recently?

"Not the film you idiot. The country" Zach said basically spitting out the words at him.

"Oh" he said looking down confused. I almost felt sorry for him, but for god's sake!

"Anyway" I interrupted. "Let's brain storm some ideas as we wait for the internet to load"

I picked up a pen out of my pencil case and opened up my notebook to the next clean page. In the centre of it, I wrote down 'Madagascar' and drew a bubble around it.

"How should we present it?" I asked

"We could make a poster or a powerpoint" Zach suggested. Finally I thought, we were getting somewhere. I never thought I would live to see the day where Zach would come up an idea, let alone a good idea. I wrote down poster and powerpoint on two separate parts of the bubble.

"Josh, any ideas?" I asked him. He was looking down at the desk with his head in his hands looking bored out of his mind. He looked up at the sound of my voice.

"Huh?" he said confused. I mentally face palmed and I heard Zach let out a frustrated sigh. He wasn't the only one annoyed with Josh at the moment.

"Do you have any suggestions on how we could present the project?" I asked him again gritting my teeth. I couldn't lose my temper.

"I don't know... just speak it?" He mumbled. I could see getting Josh to contribute to this project was going to be a challenge. I mentally commented on his suggestion in my head, thank you Josh, we were just going to force everybody to read it, but with your brilliance, they don't have to anymore! I looked at Zach and found him already looking at me and rolled his eyes. I couldn't help but return the eye roll, all Zach returned to me was a smile and this time I blushed. Embarrassed I looked down finding my writing very interesting all of a sudden.

Suddenly I felt Josh moving his chair closer towards mine. What. The. Hell? He then proceeded to move his hand as well, what was he playing at? I stared at him but he just gave me a supposedly charming smile in return. I could feel the heaviness of Zach's glare on him and I purposely moved closer towards Zach making out that we were discussing a bit of the brainstorm. This was going to be the worst group project ever - I had Josh the dumb jock and Zach the cocky smirker. This was going to be so fun, NOT!

When the internet finally loaded I clicked on to the first link that came up. Zach and I, ignored Josh as he played with his fingers and ran his hands through his hair. We got on with the project, coming up with new ideas to present our facts. I breathed in as mine and Zach's knees brushed under the table. He sent a shiver up my leg, I hoped he hadn't felt it. What was happening? No, I couldn't be falling for Zach, could I? I looked down at my legs, as my normally pale cheeks turned a rosy red. I couldn't believe I was blushing over Zach, Zach of all people.

I turned to get the iPad to look up some information when I felt someone staring at me. I looked up to see that it was Josh. He grinned at me then winked. I was just about to respond to him when I felt more eyes on me. Dr Steve's. He was standing right behind me. I couldn't say anything with Dr Steve there so I grabbed the iPad while trying to not blush and looked up some statistics on animals. I turned back to Zach hurriedly so as not to let Josh see me blushing when I saw Zach glaring at Josh with his teeth gritted together and his hands in fists. Why was he so mad? I turned my head towards Josh and saw him smirking at Zach, as if he was challenging him. In the smirking department however, Josh could never win against Zach.

Just then the bell rang so I gathered up my books and put my pen back in my pencil case. I just wanted to get out of this uncomfortable situation and go home.

As I was packing up I turned to both of them and said "Meet after school tomorrow and we can work on the project at my house." As I was about to go out of the room to meet Bex, Liz and Macey I heard my name. I sighed and turned around to see who wanted me - all I wanted was just to go home, lie on my bed and listen to music.

"Cammie, wait!" It was Josh. What did Josh want now? I walked over to him. Why was the world against me? I had spent most of the day wanting to go home over one boy, I didn't need another boy annoying me. Well that's a first, I have boy trouble...

"Yes?" I replied, exasperated. Couldn't he just get to the point already?

He shuffled his feet whilst staring at them. He looked nervous but what did Josh Abrams have to be nervous about. I was confused. "Uhh, I was just wondering if you had the time?"

Really? He made me wait for him just so he could ask me what the time was? There was a bloody clock right in front of him! "Uhh, 3:30" I replied. I turned to leave, the girls would be wondering where I was soon.

I took a few steps until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to face Josh slowly. He was looking right in my eyes and it was then that I realised just how beautiful his eyes were. "No, the time to write to exchange numbers?"

Without saying a word, I ripped a page out of my notebook and wrote down my number while he wrote down his number on another sheet of paper. We swapped numbers and I left hastily out the classroom leaving Josh alone in the room. I didn't want to be interrogated by Macey. I sped off to meet the girls at my locker, trying to make up an excuse as I dodged other people walking through the corridors. I got to my locker just as the girls strolled up to it. It was fine. I had got there in time, I had escaped an interrogation from Macey!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5-

Cammie's POV

I stood by my locker as I waited for Zach and Josh so that we could walk back to my house and continue with our project. I was really dreading this, but the project had to be done so I would just have to put up with it and get it finished as soon as I could. I turned around to see if I could see them when my eyes fell upon a green-eyed smirker leaning on the locker next to mine.

"So now you see me? Where's Jimmy?" Jimmy? Wait, did he mean Josh?

"You mean Josh?" I asked

"Josh, Jimmy, same thing" He shrugged and I couldn't help it, I cracked a smile.

"Josh should be here any second now" I said, putting emphasis on 'Josh'

"We couldn't possibly want to leave without him now, could we?" His voice dripped with sarcasm, but mine usually did as well.

We just stood against the lockers in a comfortable silence waiting for Jimmy, I mean Josh! Wow, even I find getting his name right indifferent. I sighed loudly, I knew having Josh in our project would just affect us badly. I mean, to get from class to the lockers didn't take very long and he was on the football team for god's sake, he should have been the first to get here, even Zach was here on time! Finally what felt like a million years later, I saw Josh sauntering down the corridors towards us. All rich blonde waves and big blue eyes, however, he could not weasel his way out of this one with his looks.

I stared at him as he approached, my arms crossed, my eyes glaring at him, not blinking once. I don't know what message he got from that but he immediately tried to shove Zach out the way to get in front of him. I don't know what was up with them. Hilariously though, he failed. Zach just stood there solid as rock and looking at Josh as if he were a mere stain from underneath his shoe. I had to put my hand over my mouth to stop me from laughing too much. Zach then turned his gaze to me and he burst out laughing making me follow in sync incapable of holding it in for any longer. I was too concentrated on clutching my stomach that I didn't realised that my other hand had grabbed something else. It was only when my laughter subsided that I did feel the warmth of Zach's arm on my hand, looking up into his eyes made me realise our close proximity and embarrassed I removed my hand from him as a blush crept onto my cheeks.

I can't believe I did that, we were supposed to be enemies. I inwardly admitted though that it did feel good to be that way with Zach but I also mentally promised myself that I would never get that close to him. That was how we worked but it just seemed to be changing, and I hated to admit it but I kind of liked it…

I almost forgot that Josh was even there. As I walked home, I shuffled my feet, pulling my rucksack back onto my shoulders every few minutes - if Josh and Zach were always going to be arguing and at each others throats, I don't know how much of this I could take. All I wanted was to get this project done so I won't ever have to be alone in the same room as Zach and Josh.

Out of nowhere, Josh panted, out of breath, "How much longer until we get to your house?"

I huffed. Was he actually serious? He was supposed to be on the football team for god sake! The fittest out of the three of us. Besides my house was only fifteen minutes away from school, if he couldn't walk for fifteen minutes how was he supposed to win a football match?

"Uh… we're almost there, it's just around the next corner" I replied

"Thank god!" I continued with shuffling my feet and playing with my hands as I turned onto the road where my house is. It was then that I noticed the awkward silence. Josh was trying to catch his breath and not be caught panting like a dog whilst Zach was staring at the back of my head, hardly blinking unless when he had to. I really don't understand what is going on between us - one minute we are enemies and the next we are laughing and joking together working on our project. I haven't been this confused in my entire life.

As we reached my front door, I dug around in my rucksack to try and find my keys. I knew I had them this morning because I locked the door behind me when I left for school. Eventually I found them at the bottom of my bag. I fumbled hurriedly with the bunch of keys trying to find my front door key when I dropped them. This really wasn't a good day for me. I bent down to grab them when I felt a tingling sensation go up my arm. That was when I realised that I wasn't the only one bending down to pick up the keys but Zach was as well. I took the keys from his hands as I looked down at the floor whilst I tried to hide the blush that was threatening to appear. Thankfully, I found the right key quickly, unlocked the door and held the door open whilst Zach and Josh came in and put their bags down.

"Come on up to my room and then I'll go and get you some snacks" I said trying to break the awkward silence.

I showed them up to my room and cleared my desk of all the photos of me, Bex, Macey and Liz. I glanced out of the corner of my eyes and saw Zach unpacking his notebook and the notes we made in class from his satchel whilst Josh was just staring at me. What was his problem? I shook my head and tried to focus on what I was doing.

Once I had finished and cleared space on my desk for us to work, I turned around to find both Josh and Zach staring at me. Had I got something on my back? I was starting to feel a bit self conscience. Zach was grinning that lopsided, extremely cute grin of his, why did he have that effect on me? All I wanted to do was just leave this room so I quickly came up with an excuse.

"I'll go and make you guys some snacks. I'll be back in a minute" Hoping I didn't stutter, I left the room in a hurry.

I ran down the stairs, eager to get away from Josh, Zach and their glares. I grabbed a plate from out of the cupboard and put a selection of cakes and cookies on it. I grabbed the lemonade from out of the fridge and poured it into three glasses. It was then that I realised that I didn't have four arms and I couldn't carry it all up. Then I remembered the tray my mum uses when her colleagues come over. I rummaged through the cupboards and finally found it. I put the three glasses and the plate on the tray. I carried it carefully up the stairs, passing the stain that Liz made last time she came over and spilt her orange juice on the stairs - classic Liz!

I opened the door using one hand whilst trying not to drop the tray, only to walk in and find Zach and Josh glaring at each other. Talk about awkward. I coughed loudly, trying to get their attention on anything but each other. It really scared me, whenever I wasn't around, they seemed to be glaring or making fun of each other. They simultaneously looked at me - Zach looked ashamed as he took the tray that I only just realised I was still holding from my hands and laid it on the desk. Josh however, looked slightly annoyed. What had happened between them? It had only been the first two days of the school year and they already seem to hate each other. Did something happen between them that I don't know about?

Suddenly Josh moves closer to me and stares right into my eyes. As he was doing this, I was mentally comparing him to Zach - I know I shouldn't but I just couldn't help it. Josh had dirty blue eyes whilst Zach's eyes were like green emeralds that had just been polished. Nothing could take the sparkle from his eyes… or so I thought.

As Josh stared into my eyes, he asked me a question, "So what do you want to start with, our Madagascar project or the chemistry?" I was confused. I didn't understand. Firstly, we hadn't had chemistry yet this year so how could we have any homework and secondly, why was Josh suddenly so interested in his homework and school work?

"We didn't have chemistry today, we have it tomorrow. How could we possibly have homework?" I asked still really confused.

He continued to stare into my eyes and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "No I meant the chemistry between us…" Did I just hear him correctly? I pulled away and took a step back only to fall back onto my bed.

Josh held out his hand as if to help me up whilst saying "Oh come on Cammie." I took his hand and pulled myself up trying to ignore what had just happened and the intimidating looks coming from Zach's direction.

I went to walk over to my desk but he hadn't released my hand so I was pulled back to him. I looked down at our hands and coughed quietly before saying in a nervous tone, "Um Josh, you can let go now."

He glanced down at our hands and then back at me before pulling me closer to him and smashed his lips against mine, pushing me back against the wall. What the hell was he doing?! He backed me up against the wall, while I tried to push him off. This was not how I imagined my first kiss to be. I imagined my first kiss to be passionate, forceful but with just the right amount of love but this was the complete opposite to what I wanted. Then in a flash, Josh was off me and I could finally breathe again. I looked up panting heavily, only to see Zach had grabbed Josh by his collar and pushed him down onto the floor.

I didn't know what to do now. All I wanted to do was just cry. I can't believe what had just happened. I had wanted my first kiss to be with someone special, someone that I cared about, someone more like… Zach. Wait, what? Did I really just that?

I then realised Josh and Zach was just staring at me. Zach's hand still on the back of Josh's collar, his eyes having a silent conversation with mine. It was like his eyes were almost asking me what I wanted to do with him. I didn't know though. I just wanted him out of my house.

I took one more deep breath and finally said "Josh, just go." I wasn't angry, I didn't shout it, I said it more in a tired, disappointed kind of tone. Josh just laid there on the floor, his facial expression only just changing from a cocky jock to a shameful jock who had just got rejected. I knew this was the right decision when his face didn't show hurt or regret but he was ashamed, ashamed of being rejected.

When he didn't move, I was about to collapse to the floor. I couldn't take it anymore. I'd had enough. Zach took his hand off of Josh's collar and stood in between me and him. He glared fiercely at Josh and said "Did you not hear what she just said? She doesn't want to see you anymore. Just get out!"

Finally, Josh stood up slowly and head towards the front door closely followed by Zach. Before he opened it he stopped to look at me. Zach sidestepped around him and opened the door to indicate for him to leave. I couldn't take this anymore. I headed back to my room, not looking back at Josh and heard the door slam. I'd had enough of boys.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

Zach POV:

Who did he think he was? He just forced himself onto Cammie and all I did was stand there, finding myself unable to move. I could have gotten him off of Cammie but instead I just stood there motionless, unable to do anything but watch Cammie struggle. I can't believe I didn't respond quicker.

When I found myself able to move, I had to do something. I couldn't let her struggle anymore, I had to help her. Josh wouldn't be doing this to any girl, let alone Cammie ever again, by the time I'm finished with him. I will make sure he never hurts Cammie ever again.

I couldn't even look at him anymore after what he had done to Cammie so I grabbed the back of his collar and dragged him roughly to the front door, after getting the okay from Cammie to do so.

I noticed that Cammie was hanging back, she looked close to tears. I felt terrible, I hadn't helped her when Josh was forcing himself on her. I would never forgive myself, the least I could do was make sure Jimmy never bothered Cammie again.

I glanced behind me, only to see Cammie running back up the stairs. I guess she couldn't hold her tears back anymore, this just made me feel even more guilty. Why hadn't I just helped her straight away. I turned back to look at Josh only to see him grinning at Cammie. How dare he!

I grabbed his shirt and pulled him close to me. He wasn't going to get away with this. I pushed him outside and slammed the door behind me, I didn't want Cammie to hear any of what I was going to say as it would only hurt her more. I pushed him up against the wall of the house and glared at him

"What the fuck did you do that for? Did you not see that she didn't want to kiss you? You practically forced yourself on her!" I turned around to see people on the street staring as they walked back. "You leave Cammie alone. Do you understand?" When he didn't answer I pushed him more forcefully towards the wall, "Well?"

He was definitely testing my patience. He looked down at my hands now gripping tightly onto his shirt, my knuckles turning white, while grinning. He looked back into my eyes and laughed. "Yeah, I guess I understand." I released his shirt and watched him as he walked out of Cammie's garden. Had Cammie not been crying at this very moment, he wouldn't have gotten away that easy but I had to see if she was okay.

I ran back into the house, climbed up the stairs, missing a few as I went. I walked quietly to Cammie's bedroom door. I stood at the door, just staring at it. I didn't know if I should go in or leave her alone. Would she want company or not? I decided to knock on her door quietly.

After knocking on the door and receiving no answer, I knocked again. "Cammie, it's me, Zach. I've got rid of Josh, he won't be bothering you again." I pushed down the door handle slowly and opened the door just a crack, enough to stick my head through. I searched for Cammie, my eyes scanning through the room. My eyes fell on a lump under her duvet, with sniffing and sobbing noises coming from underneath it. "Cammie?" I couldn't stand to see her like this, to know that I could have stopped Josh and got him off of her quicker.

Cammie's head popped out from underneath the duvet, her eyes red from crying and rubbing them. She looked exhausted, weak and almost breakable, even though in the short time I had known her I already knew she was far from it. I had always admired her in the school corridors for being so strong and confident but she was nothing like that now. I just wanted to wrap my arms around her and tell her everything would be okay. I opened the door more, only just realising I still just had my head popping half in.

As I opened the door, her eyes turned tired and weak. "Zach, please just go. I just want to be on my own." I scoffed, like I would actually leave her alone at a time like this, now is when she truly needed me. I walked in and closed the door silently behind me. I crouched down at the side of her bed and slowly as not to startle her, took the duvet covers off so I could see her; she immediately tried to tug the duvet back but now more than ever I was stronger than her. She lay, almost curled up in a ball trying to stop her tears from running down her cheeks. I cursed under my breath, if I had impended Josh from touching her she wouldn't be in this state of fragility.

She wouldn't look at me, she stared at her fingers as she fumbled with them. I put two fingers under her chin and turned her head so she was now looking at me. I stared into her eyes, her normally sparkly-cerulean blue eyes were rimmed red and I felt it like a punch to my stomach, sweeping the air out of me. I could have stopped this from happening.

I needed to reassure her that everything was going to be okay. "Cammie, listen to me. I would never leave you alone, in this state." She turned her body away from me and faced the opposite way. I ran around her bed to the opposite side. I took a deep breath, how was I going to get her to listen to me.

"Cammie, please just look at me." She tilted her head so that she could see me. We stayed like that for a few minutes silently waiting for the other to speak. After a while, she sat up, dangling her legs over the side of the bed. She rubbed her hand on the space next to her, a signal indicating for me to sit now. She still hadn't said a word but at least she knew I was here for her and not going anywhere.

I sat on her bed, my heart thumping hard in my chest as I took her hands as she turned her head to look at me. "Cammie, I know we haven't exactly been best friends recently but I hate seeing you like this. It breaks my heart to see the sparkle go out of your eyes, to see your normally confident self now weak and frail. I just need you to know that I am here for you and you can talk to me."

I stared at her, waiting for her response. She looked down at our hands, now entwined together and said, "I know you want to help and thanks for taking care of Josh but I just want to forget about it. You can go, I'll be fine. Anyway I know you are meeting up with the boys anyway." As she said this, she released my hand and bought it back to her other one so she could play with her fingers. She shuffled over, away from me creating a gap between us.

I moved closer to her, wrapping my arm around her waist as I pulled her closer to me. "I'm not going anywhere until I know you're ok." As I said this, she relaxed in my arms and rested her head onto my shoulder. "Besides, you're not going to forget about it, if you are alone with nothing to do. If you really want me to leave, I'll just call Macey and tell her what happened - see if she can come around."

Her head shot right up at the mention of Macey's name. She looked at me, her eyes wide and said in a pleading voice. "Please don't tell Macey or the girls. Can we just keep this between me and you. I don't want them to know, they'll only go and batter Josh and that's not what I want."

I nodded my head, "Ok". She relaxed as I said this. "But I'm not leaving you on your own."

"Fine, but all I want to do is just have a nap, so it will be pretty boring." She's trying to get me to leave but it won't work. I need to make sure she is okay. I got off the bed, to allow her to climb in under the duvets, when she grabbed my hand. She pulled me back on the bed and in a faint, almost inaudible whisper said, "Stay with me, please."

I looked at our hands, which had automatically entwined together again. I smiled down at them, this time last week we were enemies. She shuffled back towards her pillow, pulling me back with her. I scooted across her bed and leant against the headboard, my arm wrapped around her waist. Before I knew it, she had rested her head on my chest and I could hear her breaths slow down and blend into one.

It was like we were meant to go together - we fitted together like two jigsaw puzzles. I stared down at her, watching her chest move up and down as she breathed. She was beautiful but not in a noticeable kind of way but I knew she was beautiful from the first time I looked at her from across the hallway. I ran my hands through her hair, her dishwater blonde hair flowing down her back, wiping the occasional strand out of her eyes.

After a while, I looked up from Cammie and gazed around her room, smiling at the photos of her, Macey, Bex and Liz messing around. I glanced at the clock, hanging on her wall and saw that it read 5:45. I was supposed to meet the boys at 6. I couldn't leave Cammie alone on her own, I had to stay with her.

I reached down slowly into my pocket, careful not to wake Cammie. I dialed Grant's number and bought the phone to my ear. It rang and rang, I found myself muttering to myself "Pick up, come on just pick up".

On the last ring he picked up, "Zach? What's the matter, we're meeting in 10 minutes, couldn't it have waited?"

He seemed confused, I looked down at Cammie and whispered quietly so as not to wake her up. "Uh, actually something came up. I can't make it, could we do it another night?" I hoped he wouldn't ask any questions. I didn't want to have to lie to him but Cammie had asked me to keep this to myself and I couldn't betray her trust.

"Yeah, sure. Maybe at the weekend? Anything I can do?" Great, he's asking questions.

"Um, no. It's fine. I got to go now. See you at school." I then hung up before he could ask any more questions. I hated keeping things from him.

I took a deep breath and placed my phone on her bedside table. As I turned around, I noticed Cammie wasn't leaning on me anymore. She was sitting upright, looking me in the eye. "You didn't have to do that. I would have been fine on my own. Ring him back and tell him you can go."

I sighed, "It's fine, really, I don't want to leave you on your own. When's your parents coming home?"

"Well actually, they're away, um, on a business trip for the weekend so they are back in 2 days time - Sunday evening. I was thinking about inviting the girls over tomorrow for a start of school sleepover so it would only be tonight I'd be alone."

I sat up, with a smirk on my face. "Right, you have two choices. I can stay here and sleep on the sofa or you can come back to mine."

She broke the eye contact and glanced down at the bed. "You can stay here but this stays between you and me."

I fake gasped. "What? You're ashamed of me!" She looked at my face with a small smile on her lips as her cheeks blushed a faint shade of red - I liked the fact that I could make her blush.

We stared at each other, Cammie blushing harder and harder. "Soooo, are we just going to sit here all night?" I asked.

"Well, I don't know much about you. How about we play 20 questions?" So she was interested in me, she wanted to get to know me. This is where I'll try the Zach Goode charm again, she won't be able to resist.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Yeah, I guess. I'll go first…. What's your middle name?" I felt a bit awkward asking personal questions so decided to start off innocently. I thought maybe if I didn't ask her anything too personal, she wouldn't ask me anything too personal.

"Uhh, Ann. My full name is Cameron Ann Morgan."

Wait, hang on a minute. Her name is Cameron! "Your name is Cameron?"

"Yeah, why do you have a problem?" She asked fiercely. Oh-no, what had I done? Maybe I shouldn't have asked that.


	7. Chapter 7

Cammie POV:

Did Zach have a problem with my name or something? I was starting to get annoyed again. It's not like I had a choice what my name is. I mean he was the one that insisted he stayed with me. Then he interrupted me from my thoughts.

"What? Oh no I didn't mean it like that! I mean that I didn't know Cameron was your first name…" he stuttered

I sat there for a few seconds just staring at him. Then I burst out laughing.

"Did you really think Cammie was my real name?" His face was pure shock! Right, he is trying to play all innocently, but that's now how I play. I play to find out your most embarrassing moments.

"Well Zachary, what school did you go to before Gallagher?" I decided to change subject. I'd play innocently to start off with but believe me, he won't have many secrets that I won't know by the time I'm finished. I watched his facial expression change. His eyes seemed to be far away, like he was remembering a painful memory.

"Blackthorne." So he was a Blackthorne Boy.

"Does that mean I can call you Blackthorne Boy?" I asked him. I wanted to try and lighten the mood. It seemed to have got very serious very quickly.

"Only if I can call you Gallagher Girl." He replied back to his old cocky, overconfident self.

I rolled my eyes and folded my arms. "Fine…. Next question."

I had no idea what he was going to ask me next. Was it going to get serious again? "Okay Gallagher Girl… What's your relationship with Jimmy?"

I froze. Now this I wasn't expecting. Especially not after what had just happened, I turned back to Zach.

"Nothing. What's yours?" I replied quickly, this I wanted to find out. There was something strange about the two of them. Zach tensed next to me and he followed it up with a heavy sigh.

"When I was younger. I used to be friends with him but then...Ok, you're going to think this is really stupid but…"He was stalling, why wouldn't he just spit it out?

"Oh come on tell me! I won't judge" I pleaded, he couldn't just tease me like this. I now had a right to know!

"Fine. When we were younger he broke my Thomas the Tank Engine toy." He said rapidly, I almost couldn't understand a word of what he had said. He hadn't meant that, had he? He couldn't be serious..

I burst out laughing, "No, really. Why aren't you friends?" I watched as his facial expression turned to embarrassment. Maybe he had meant it.

"No seriously, that's what happened. I know it's stupid but I was only 5!" He said, justifying himself to me and I started to feel a bit guilty for inwardly making fun of him.

He scrunched his face up, trying to think of another question to ask me when my laptop made a ringing noise. I leapt off the bed, where me and Zach had only been centimetres apart, to my desk to see what was wrong with my laptop. As I got closer to the laptop screen, I recognised the familiar Skype caller ID of Macey. I was just about to push the answer button when I remembered that Zach was straight in front of the camera and I couldn't deal with a four hour interrogation from Macey, Bex and Liz about what Zach was in my house.

I had to hide Zach, I know that sounds daft but I couldn't let Macey see Zach. She wouldn't let me forget this for a very long time. I had to answer quickly otherwise Macey would suspect something was up. All I knew was that I had to get rid of Zach.

I rushed over to the bed and ushered Zach to stand up by pulling his arm, "Zach, please… It's Macey, I can't let her see you. She won't ever leave us alone."

He reluctantly stood up, ever so slowly, I bet just to annoy me. "Ashamed of me Gallagher Girl?" He said, that damn smirk marking his lips.

"Wouldn't dream of it." I responded, a sweet smile on my face as I ushered Zach into my cupboard with all my might. The boy seemed to be made of rock or some indestructible material however because he would hardly budge! I shoved him into the cupboard and told him to stay quiet. I don't think he really understood what Macey is capable of doing if she isn't told things, after all she is the boy expert.

I ran back to my desk, sat down on my chair and clicked the answer button, smoothing my hair out before it loaded so I looked as natural as possible. I looked at the screen and was met with a very angry-looking Macey. Not the most inviting of sights.

"I was just about to hang up, why didn't you pick up straight away?" I didn't like lying to my friends but I had no choice. What was I supposed to say? I'm terrible of making up lies on the spot, pressure being my weakness. To make matters worse, it was to one of my best friends who knew me better than anyone. She'd know I was lying.

"Uh, I was just doing some homework…" Homework? Now I know she wouldn't believe me. I had to at least try and make it believable, I looked at her dead in the eyes, trying not to flinch as she stared back at me with raised eyebrows. She doesn't believe me, I knew she wouldn't, why didn't I come up with something more believable?

"Cammie, I know you're lying. Firstly because you always wrinkle your nose when you lie - have been doing it since you were ten." What? I didn't do that... did I? Was it really that obvious? "And secondly, if you were doing your homework" she said as she put air quotes around the word 'homework'. "Then why does your hair look like you've just got up." Wow, she was good. I mean, I had woken up on Zach's chest just half an hour ago, not that she needed to know that. Now all I needed to come up with was a believable lie and not wrinkle my damn nose. I decided to just go with a small white lie.

I sighed, "Fine, you got me. I just took a nap. That's why it took me so long to answer." I concentrated on my nose as I said this, trying my hardest not to wrinkle it.

I waited for Macey's response, did she believe me? When I heard a snort from my cupboard and a mumbling voice, "Yeah, it wasn't because she was dragging me into her cupboard. This isn't the comfiest place Gallagher Girl." Zach! He is dead! I glanced at the cupboard to see Zach smirking at me through the gap.

Luckily, Macey had already started talking and hadn't heard him. "Okay anyway, I was just calling to see if I could come round to your house, pretty bored at the moment." What?! Macey couldn't come round if Zach was still here. I had to make up an excuse.

"Um, sorry Mace but I was going to have an early night, I had a busy day today but do you want to come round to mine tomorrow for a start of school sleepover? I'll call Liz and Bex." I waited to hear what Macey would say, I prayed she would stay home.

"Yeah okay. Tomorrow, after school." She smiled back. She believed me.

"Mace, sorry but I'm really tired. I'm going to go. See you tomorrow." I yawned before hanging up on Macey. I didn't wait for her to respond because I knew how long she could chat for and honestly I didn't know how much longer Zach would stay quiet in my cupboard for. Not that he was actually trying to stay quiet.

I grabbed my phone to text Bex and Liz before I forgot:

Sleepover at mine tomorrow

I flopped onto my bed and sighed. What a day it'd been! Wait, Zach was still in my cupboard. I crept to my cupboard, placed my hand on the handle and counted to three silently in my head. On three, I swung the door open and jumped back as Zach fell out of my cupboard. Ha! That teaches him to try and be clever when I've told him to be quiet.

"What were you playing at, I told you to be quiet." I glared at him. I don't think he understood that Macey would not leave us alone, if she knew.

Chapter 7

He smirked back at me, his green eyes staring back at me. If only he knew what that smirk did to me… There, I've admitted it, he affects me.

"Come on Gallagher Girl. Fine, I'm sorry." Before I knew what was going on he stood up and wrapped his arms around me, embracing me in a hug. I was startled at first but on instinct hugged him back. I pressed my face into his shoulder and breathed in his scent- completely natural no cologne at all, just Zach, and it was soon becoming my favourite scent.

I pulled away reluctantly, as I felt his grip loosen on my back. What do I do? What do I say? "Fine… I guess you're forgiven" I said in a mocking and teasing tone.

"Goode" He replied looking me in the eye

I was confused. Goode? "Didn't you mean good?"

"Oh no, I meant Goode" He smirked back at me. That damn smirk!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Cammie's POV

Relief washed over me as another tiresome school day finished, many hours of my life just gone down the drain. Thank God, I thought it's over! I was so excited for the sleepover I couldn't concentrate all day anyway. I needed this sleepover to get my mind off of the happenings of the last few days. I just couldn't comprehend it.

I leant against my locker, where on Earth were Liz, Bex and Macey? We have a sleepover to start, plus we haven't had one in so long. I finally saw them coming down the hall together in their giggling heap, I laughed inwardly at my best friends. Once they got to my locker I noticed they were all carrying gigantic bags, they type of bag which you would pack a weeks worth of luggage for. I squealed as they approached me, I really needed this girly night.

"Hey, are we ready?" They all nodded eagerly whilst I grabbed Liz's bag from her as it looked like she was struggling. To be honest, it wasn't that heavy but Liz wasn't the strongest person I know. We walked home, eager to get there and start the fun. Funnily enough, we got home faster than we did with Josh. He wasn't the quickest person, even though he was on the football team, he dawdled rather than walked anywhere.

We got home in half the time I did with Josh and Zach. I sprinted up to my room, the girls giggling and chasing me up the stairs. We scrambled into my room, playfully pushing each other every now and then- predictably this lead to Liz actually falling over. Bex ran over to the other side of the room, making sure she got the spot under the window. Macey shoved through everyone, dragging her bag behind her making sure she could sleep against the wall and Liz, well being Liz plonked her bag right in the middle of the floor. We spent the next 15 minutes, unrolling their sleeping bags and getting into our pyjamas.

I was just about to get into my pyjamas of choice which I usually kept under my pillow (my owl three quarter length pyjama bottoms and an owl long sleeved top) when I noticed the look Macey was sending me.

'What?' I retorted, defending my pyjamas whilst dramatically clutching them to my chest.

"Do you really want to wear those pyjamas when it's like a billion degrees in here?" Macey replied with a perfectly raised eyebrow

"Why not?" I asked, really not getting the point she was trying to get.

She just sighed at me and searched for something in her bag. I looked down at my pyjamas again, then I felt something hit my face. I looked down at the floor and picked up a pale green tank top and shorts that hardly looked like they would cover anything.

"Put those on instead" Macey demanded, to be fair I did try to argue back but it's rare for someone to win against Macey McHenry.I looked around the room, trying to get the girls to help me out but Macey must have already convinced them too as Liz was in a baby blue nightie that showed off her legs and Bex was in a deep blue tank top and shorts. Reluctantly I changed into the given clothes, glad that it was just us around because even though the pyjamas were comfortable they were still slightly indecent.

Once I'd changed into the pyjamas I looked at Macey "Happy?"

"Very" she grinned, I sighed and rolled my eyes, she just had to always get her own way.

My thoughts were interrupted when Bex clapped her hands "Okay, now that we're all ready lets do our bitching session!" She squealed and I couldn't help but join her. We're not bitches, we just like to bitch...

"Yes!" screamed Macey and practically threw herself on to my bed almost squishing me to death. It was an under exaggeration to say Macey was excited for our session. Bex was the one to start it off though, and once started it only spread, all of us just kept joining in.

"Two words. Tina Walters." Said Bex and that was enough for a frustrated groan to leave all our mouths. That girl had the IQ of a cow and the looks to match; not the best combination.

"You'll never guess what she did to me today!" Liz exclaimed, she always tried to see the best in people, but unfortunately there is no good to be seen in Tina.

"What?" We all said in response to Liz's question. We all wanted to hear what she had to say about Tina with a passion.

"She was trying to convince me that a swimming pool is made of just chlorine completely, not other substances!"

"I always knew she was stupid, I just never really realised how stupid she actually was!" I replied in astonishment. I mean, Liz knew everything there is to know. She has what you call a 'sticky brain' - everything she has ever read, seen or heard just seems to stay with her so if anyone knew what a swimming pool is made out of, it's Liz.

"I mean, everyone knows it's made out of water, chlorine and hypochlorous acid" Macey, Bex and I all just stared at each other and threw our heads back laughing. We clutched on to our tummies, trying to control the pain we were getting from all the laughing. I mean, I wasn't as dumb as Tina and knew it wasn't just made of chlorine but I didn't know what it was made from. I guess that's why we call Liz the brainbox of the group.

After we had all managed to stop laughing and control ourselves, Macey almost shouted, "No, I'll tell you who gets on my nerves… Courtney Bauer. She follows Tina around like a lost puppy. We all think Tina is dumb but Courtney isn't much better! Has she even got her own brain? All she seems to do is agree with Tina - never having her own opinion or standing up for herself."

ZACH POV:

Jonas, Preston, Grant and I were all lying on the sofas in my living room. It'd been a long week, never-ending… Grant, Preston and I were all teasing Jonas about Liz… The funny thing was that it was obvious they both liked each other but they didn't do anything about it. I mean, they blush when they're just holding hands. Imagine if they kissed!

I had flopped onto the armchair, with my legs hanging over the armrest, "Jonas, why don't you just ask her out?" I didn't understand why he didn't ask her out. I stared at him, watching a faint blush sneak up onto his cheeks.

I bent my head down so as to hide my chuckle, however my chuckle soon disappeared when Grant knocked my foot, "Oh, look who's talking! Don't think we haven't noticed what's going on between you and Cammie. One minute you can't stand each other and the next you're actually voluntarily working on this Madagascar project…"

My head shot up, what was I supposed to say. Me and Cammie were just friends, weren't we? I was just about to make up an excuse when Preston's phone went off indicating a text had come through.

"The girls are having a sleepover at Cammie's. Macey wants to know if you fancy going round?" Preston read off of his phone, glancing up at us to see our reaction.

"Yeah! Anything to see my British Bombshell!" Grant jumped off of the sofa that he was sharing with Preston to put on his shoes.

Preston followed, not far behind Grant, "Yeah man, I'll come." They both glanced back at me and Jonas to make sure we were coming as well.

"Uhh, I'll just stay here. I've got a lot of homework." I wanted to go but I just worried that I would feel awkward when I got there.

Jonas stood up and walked over to me, "Yeah, I'll stay and help you if you want."

Before I had a chance to agree, Grant and Preston both grabbed our arms and dragged us out the front door, slamming it behind them. "Oh no you don't, you're coming whether you like it or not!"

Cammie only lived next door so we knocked on her door a minute later. A few minutes passed and there was no reply, so knocked again. A few seconds later, I heard Cammie's voice calling out, "Hang on, I'll be there in a minute." I leant against the door frame whilst I waited for her to open the door, how long did it take?

She opened her door with a face full of shock, wait she did know we were coming didn't she? Hadn't Macey texted Preston? Her eyes grew bigger whilst her mouth made the perfect oval shape.

"Hey Gallagher Girl" I said with my signature smirk.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Cammie's POV

"Hey Gallagher Girl" What was he doing here? I didn't understand. I'd probably figure it out quicker if that smirk wasn't distracting me too. If only he knew what that smirk does to me! "Stop, Cammie" I said to myself, that smirk does nothing but annoy you. It was then that I realised the four boys were staring at me, looking at me a bit confused. Oh right, I'd better let them in.

I stepped out of the middle of the doorway allowing them enough room to come in. I didn't know why they were here, but I couldn't expect them to wait outside. "Here, come in." They all stepped in without saying a word. I had to find out why they were here, what were they doing here. "Uh, Liz, Mace, Bex, can I speak to you, uh in the kitchen?" I said trying to act casual- probably failing at doing so.

They all got up and walked out silently, sending me looks making sure I was fine. I didn't understand why they were so calm, it was almost like they knew about the boys coming over, almost as if they'd planned it.

We walked into the kitchen after making sure the boys were sitting down, and closed the door behind us to make sure they don't eavesdrop. I shivered as a chill went down my spine and wrapped my arms around me trying to keep warm. That was when I realised I was only wearing a tank top and shorts that barely covered me, with boys in the house… with ZACH in the house more specifically!

"What are they doing here? More importantly why am I wearing this when they're in my house?" I asked as I gestured to my pyjamas hoping they would get my point without me having to embarrass myself and actually spell it out to them.

Macey just looked at me, like I was completely oblivious as to what was happening. "Well, I invited the boys over, I texted Preston about 15 minutes ago asking where he was and if he wanted to come over. I guess he was at Zach's and they all decided to come. And as to the second part of the question, I thought I'd already been through this with you. I'm the fashion expert, I told you to put those pyjamas on and that's what you did…. Any other questions?" She asked in a voice that sounded like she was trying not to laugh. Urgh, why did she have to text Preston, why did Zach have to come? I wanted it to be just us girls, I needed a break from everything and just hang out with my friends. I guess that's not tonight.

I looked at Bex and Liz - Bex silently laughing at my face, I guess it was slightly shocked and Liz looking sympathetically at me. "If it helps, I didn't know about this, I'm sorry." Liz said in her timid voice. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just was kind of shocked to see them there... Come on, let's go back in." We all walked back to the lounge to find the boys sitting down on the sofa and armchair. Preston, Jonas and Grant talking about some football game but Zach wasn't joining in the conversation. Instead he had a faraway look in his eyes, staring into space. What was he thinking about?

Zach POV:

I walked in, trying to act casual. I went through to her lounge, trying not to noticeably stare at Cammie. I mean, those were some very short, sexy shorts. I noticed the guys were talking about some football game that was supposed to be taking place tomorrow but I wasn't really listening. All I could seem to think about was Cammie, more specifically those shorts...

I wondered where she had headed off, I was about to find her myself when I noticed her walk back in with Macey, Liz and Bex, her cheeks were flushed and she was strangely silent. What had they been talking about?

The girls sat down on the rest of the sofa with Cammie and Liz on the beanbags. Grant and Preston all budged up making room for Macey and Bex, before the girls threw the guys off the sofa altogether, which I could see would happen very soon. This all happened in silence, well that was kind of awkward…

Then, out of nowhere, Bex sprung up from the sofa, and suggested "How about we play Truth or Dare?" However she may have asked it as a question but believe me, the tone of her voice made it clear that no-one was going to argue with her. Besides, she'd only win anyway.

Grant and Macey said almost simultaneously "Yeah". Well now there's definitely no way I can get out of this now, I mean it's Macey, Bex and Grant on the same side.

I glanced at Preston who was looking at me. I shrugged my shoulders and let out a sigh, "I guess we don't really have much of a choice". To be honest, I kind of wanted to play Truth or Dare just to get to know Cammie a bit better.

While I was thinking about Cammie, Macey leapt up from the sofa and went over to Preston enveloping him in a hug, whilst chanting "Thank you, thank you, thank you" over and over again. After a few seconds, she pulled away with a faint blush sneaking up on her cheeks and returned to her space on the sofa. As Macey sauntered back to her space, I noticed that Preston had got as red as a tomato and was scratching the back of his neck which he always seemed to do when he was nervous. Well, what was all that about? I heard Cammie, Liz and Jonas groan.

"Do we have to play truth or dare? We always play that!" Cammie complained

"Of course we do! It's tradition" Bex grinned and clapped her hands whilst looking around at everyone as if she was trying to pick her first victim.

"Fine, if we have to. Come on Liz and Jonas, there's no way we can get out of it. She's given us the Baxter glare!" Cammie replied, as she stood up and made her way towards the stairs followed by Bex and Grant.

I got up slowly, stretching my arms and legs. I waited for the others to go first, following behind them. As I followed Liz, I thought back to the last time I'd been in Cammie's room, the night Josh threw himself on her… Not my most pleasant memory.

We got to Cammie's room to find all the girls sleeping bags sprawled across the floor. The girls hurried to grab their overnight bags which would do me a week, possibly more. How much space did they need? They were only there one night.

We sat in a circle, me trying to think of some good dares that I could say, nothing annoyed me much more than half hearted dares. It was only when everyone had sat down that I noticed I was only a few centimetres away from Cammie. I don't want to sound stalkerish but I could smell her apple shampoo wafting in my direction, it was extremely distracting.

"As it was my idea, I'll start." Bex said, taking charge as usual. Bex wasn't Bex without taking charge and being assertive. She placed an empty bottle of water in the middle of our circle and proceeded to spin it. We all waited in anticipation as the bottle continued its turns finally slowing down and landing on… Macey.

Bex looked up from the bottle, to Macey with her famous evil grin on her face. Now you may think her voice may sound a bit evil but instead it was as innocent as you could get. Everyone knows that when Bex uses her innocent voice, it wasn't good. "Macey, truth or dare?"

Macey pondered before deciding on truth. Surprising, I thought to myself, I was quite sure Macey would pick dare. "Hmmmm, Macey what turns you on physically and what's your biggest turn off?"

Wow! Bex was good at this. I just hoped she never had to give me a truth or dare. I always thought that truths were so much easier but I don't think that counts for Bex's ideas, she will make you regret ever picking truth. I looked to Macey to catch her reaction - it was priceless. Her cheeks turned a rosy pink and she looked down in embarrassment, or possibly disbelief. I turned my head to look at Preston and I smirked to myself when I noticed how much his reaction mirrored Macey's.

"Uh… well" Macey stuttered lost for words, it was weird for her not to have an automatic, snarky comeback.

She stared at her hands, her thumbs fumbling together while she thought about her answer. She looked up with a bright red face, glared at Bex who had an amused smile on her face and mumbled something I couldn't hear.

"Sorry" Bex said innocently as she put her hand behind her ear, making her eyes wide and doe like. "What was that?"

"Preston!" she shouted mainly towards Bex before furiously glaring at her and then to the floor.

I turned my head towards Preston to see his reaction. His face was just as bright as Macey's and his eyes were wide open but he didn't say or do anything, as all boys though I can imagine him being quite smug about this, even if he doesn't share it. I looked towards Cammie and she had her hand over her mouth to try and stop herself from laughing. I couldn't help but grin at that. That laugh was just so damn cute! I thought Macey's torment was over but no, Bex was going in for another shot.

"I'm afraid darling you need to be a bit more specific. What about Preston turns you on?" Bex said giving Macey a wicked smile, Macey sent her a fowl look in return.

"Now come on Bex, don't you think you're being a bit harsh?" Cammie asked Bex, trying to prevent Macey confessing all of her secrets.

"No, I don't think I'm being too harsh. I asked her WHAT turned her on, not WHO!" Bex answered with an evil twinkle in her eye. Macey's sigh of desperation was loud enough for the whole circle to understand that she was about to confess some more.

"Bex, you had better sleep with one eye open tonight. I guess… I guess I just think he is… um… I don't know, good looking?" She asked, not even looking at Preston's face. Well, it didn't really change that much, he was as red but instead scratching the back of his neck. Those two had some serious unresolved business.

"That's more like it" Bex grinned and winked towards Preston who only blushed even more. "Now the turn off! Please continue Macey." Macey managed to respond to this one much quicker.

"If someone is weak minded and cannot stand up for themselves. Spineless." She spat out. I had to agree with her, I disliked the same type of person, Jimmy for example.

"Okay moving on!" Macey shouted, you could tell that she was desperate to change topics.

Macey picked up the water bottle and spun round. Unfortunately, it landed on me.

"Zachary," Macey started with a sickly sweet smile. This can't be good "Name the person you're most attracted to in the room." Uh-Oh, I had to try and get out of this one.

"Grant" I automatically said smiling through my words.

I glanced at Grant to see him flexing his muscles, almost directly in front of Bex's face. God, he always was so confident, I was probably rubbing off on him.

"Well! I never knew you thought of me like that. I'm already taken. I only have eyes for my British Bombshell. Sorry Zachary." He winked at Bex as she looked back at him with raised eyebrows.

Macey rolled her eyes "The most attractive girl you idiot" I could tell I was really getting on her nerves

"Well you should've been more specific" I smirked. "Well, after Grant, I'm most attracted to…"

Great, now what am I going to do? I looked around the room, looking at each girl individually until I stopped at Cammie, the answer had been in front of me my whole time. "Cammie."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Cammie POV:

"Cammie" Huh? Zach just said my name… my name, when you had Macey the fashionista, Bex the egyptian goddess and Liz the cute innocent one, why would he pick me? Why would he say I was the one he was most attracted to? Wait, did that mean? No, no, it couldn't be, I mean we'd only known each other for a couple of weeks.

I glanced at Zach to see his expression, I mean that would tell me how he felt about me, wouldn't it? But knowing Zach it probably wouldn't. I snuck a look out of the corner of my eye to see Zach was already staring at me but with that damn smirk of his plastered all over his face, how was I supposed to know how he felt about me if all he did was smirk?

Before I could think about Zach anymore, I noticed he was already spinning the bottle, the bottle spun around fiercely. As this happened most girls may watch the bottle, or at the very least look away but I couldn't. I found myself concentrating on the crinkle that appeared in between his eyebrows every time he was focused.

I continued staring at it, almost as if I was in a trance. Finally I managed to tear myself away to see who the bottle had landed on… Grant. This was going to be good.

"Grant. Truth… or dare" he said dramatically and over-exaggerated, putting emphasis on the words 'truth' and 'dare', almost as if he was a TV presenter, giving the results of a reality TV programme.

"Dare" Grant replied immediately, without a heartbeat in between.

Zach smirked at him as if he knew he was going to pick dare.

"I dare you" he paused and looked over at Bex, with a huge grin on my face. How did I know this was going to be a good dare, "To kiss Miss Baxter over here, on the lips"

Grant eyes widened as Zach's smirk grew bigger as he added as if it was a second thought, "For one minute!" Ha, he just wanted to humiliate the loved up couple as much as possible. He was evil!

That made Grant speechless, I'd never seen that happen before. However he quickly recovered, and had a big grin on his face. "Well come here my British Bombshell…" He scooted closer to Bex, who had an evil glint in her eyes, directed at Zach. If looks could kill, Zach would be dead on the spot.

"Okay now wait a -" Bex began but was cut off as Grant's lips captured hers.

Grant put his arms around Bex's waist and pulled her closer to him, in almost a protective way. After a few seconds Bex responded to the kiss by wrapping her arms around Grant's neck and started kissing him back. I was smiling at them both, I knew just what this would mean to Bex, though she would never admit it.

My gaze drifted to Liz, oh poor innocent Liz, who was staring point blank at them with her mouth wide open. Macey, who was sitting next to Liz, had a huge grin on her face, slowly shaking her head from side to side. We'd have to interrogate her later when the boys had left. She wasn't getting away with it that easily!

I glanced over to Zach's phone, which he was holding in his hand, timing the kiss. 57...58...59...60. "You can stop, a minute's over." I heard Zach say, looking up from his phone but Bex and Grant were too caught up in the moment to have heard as they carried on kissing. It was like they were in their own little world, this was so cute!

I glanced around the circle to notice everyone looking at each other until Macey raised her voice. "Okay, Okay. Enough, or get a room!" she said with a huge grin on her face and winking at the flushed couple who were trying to steady their breathing and not gasp for air.

Bex widened her eyes as if she only just realised what has happened and suddenly pushed Grant away from her, her face still flushed. But Grant wasn't going to let that happen, he automatically wrapped his arms tighter and forced her into his chest. I bet she was secretly enjoying it, even though she rolled her eyes. I mean, she did snuggle into his chest, getting comfortable as Grant loosened his grip from around her waist and held her in more of a loving way… Ahhhh they were just too cute!

I looked over at Zach. He just sat there with raised eyebrows then winked at Grant, who in returned grinned back at him.

"My turn" said Grant as he picked up the bottle and spun it round.

Ironically, it landed on Bex.

"Truth or dare Baxter?" Grant grinned at her, obviously hoping for her to say dare, that grin said it all.

"Dare" Grant's grin grew bigger, I wondered what he had up his sleeve. Most likely something Bex would regret.

"I dare you… to say yes to the following question." Bex face grew curious, I didn't know where this was going but I was kind of excited to find out.

"Go on then, hit me." Bex replied confidently.

"Will you go out to dinner with me tomorrow night" He asked Bex as he pushed her gently off his chest to look her in the eyes.

I looked towards Bex who raised her eyebrows. I knew she was dying of excitement inside, no matter how cool and sophisticated she wished to play it. They stared into each others eyes for a couple of seconds. It was like they were having a private conversation, just the two of them. How sweet!

Eventually, Bex answered with a simple "Yes, if I have to" in a voice that sounded strained but really I knew she was jumping for joy inside. I mean the guy she'd been crushing on forever finally asked her out! It would only be human for her to be over joyed.

Grant wrapped his arms back around her waist, pulling her into him again, obviously satisfied with her answer, resting his head on her head. They just looked so perfect!

Bex leant forward to reach the bottle with a small and subtle smile on her face, threatening to grow bigger. She spun the bottle and guess what? It just had to land on me. I mean, I hadn't even wanted to play…

"Truth or dare Cammie?" Bex said with a bored facial expression, she most likely thought that I was going to choose truth, like I always did, so to prove her wrong I picked dare.

"Dare." I said with new found confidence, the look of surprise on Bex's face was totally worth it. I thought I had the upper hand until Bex smiled.

"I dare you to... sit on Zach's lap for the rest of the game."

Thank God, I thought relieved. I thought it was going to be much worse, but then I realised that it was bad because it was Zach's lap. It had to be his lap; it was just my luck. Warily, I nodded and slowly and limply I made my way to Zach, his eyes watched me as I settled in his lap.

I leaned in involuntarily into the warmth of his chest; my head fitted in neatly underneath his chin. I felt a bit awkward sitting on his lap, I mean I was enjoying it but that didn't stop me blushing, which I am certain Bex has taken note of and will interrogate me later, and I could cope with that if I at least got the details about her and Grant.

I leant forward to reach the bottle and spun it. It spun a few times and landed on… Preston. I sat as still as I could very much conscious of sitting on Zach's lap and asked Preston, "Truth or dare?"

I predicted that he would pick dare so I already had a dare forming in my head so it surprised me when he replied without hesitation, "Truth."

This was not what I had been expecting, I had to think of something really good. What could I ask him? Then it came to me, "Who was your first crush?" I was doing this for Macey, I knew she would be curious. I looked at Preston to see how he would react to the question and saw he looked a bit flushed and bowed his head down, playing with his fingers.

"Um, well, I have only ever had one crush and I still have a crush on her now. She's beautiful, confident and fun to be around. Um, and she is, um Macey."

Well that was totally unexpected. My mouth literally dropped open, I was unable to hide my shock. This was so adorable, I couldn't help letting a small "Awww" out of my mouth. Two couples in one day. I say that's a double whammy!

I hadn't thought anyone had heard me let out my small "awww" until I felt Zach's warm breath tickling my ear. I held my breath, hoping he wouldn't realise how tense I was and tried not to squirm on his lap, it really was ticklish.

Finally, after what felt like ages, he said, "So you're a hopeless romantic, I learn something new everyday." After a few seconds, I could sense he was backing away, I let out the breath that I was holding in. I felt Zach move behind me, oh God, was he uncomfortable, did he want me to get off of him? I felt him lean against me; his chest and my back touching, his head placed on the top of my head, his hands placed on his knees - only centimetres away from my legs.

After getting over the shock of Zach, I glanced at Macey to see how she was taking this sudden confession. She was trying unsuccessfully to hide a smile, whilst tucking a strand of hair behind her hair, the way she always did when she was nervous.

Then out of the blue, Macey stretched to the other side of the circle, put her fingers under Preston's chin and lifted his face up to look her in the eyes. She whispered something in his ears, which made Preston blush fiercely. She, then quickly kissed him on the cheek and settled back down into her space. Well, that certainly wasn't expected, it almost knocked Preston off of his feet.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Grant wolf-whistling whilst Preston just turned a brighter shade of red. I grinned, Macey and Preston are never going to live this down. Suddenly, I felt very tired, it had been a long day and I might have just forgotten where I was for a second as I snuggled deeper into Zach's chest.

Zach POV:

I felt Cammie's head relax on my chest, her breathing evening out as she snuggled closer to me. I could tell she was falling asleep on me, as she became floppy and limp so I moved my hands to steady her and make sure she didn't fall off.

I wondered if I should warn her that she was falling asleep but I realised that I liked her weight on me too much to let go of her, completely selfish intentions. The game however continued, oblivious to Cammie's nap. It looked like it was Preston's turn to spin the bottle. This time it landed on Jonas.

"Truth or dare?" Preston asked.

"Truth." Jonas said immediately.

"What are you most afraid of?" asked Preston, this time it was Jonas' turn to blush. He muttered something that I found inaudible, but with the rest of the group complaining for him to be louder he cleared his voice and repeated what he said.

"Umm...I'm scared of failing a test," repeated Jonas. I chuckled to myself, being careful not to move too much in case I disturb Cammie. Typical Jonas! I rolled my eyes, that was just the sort of thing Jonas would say. Liz on the other hand seemed to understand what he was feeling; of course she would.

As they were all laughing at Jonas, I could feel my eyes getting heavier, so I shut my eyes for a couple of seconds, resting my eyes. I could feel Cammie's breath against my neck, sending shivers down my spine. This made me feel more relaxed, I didn't want to move, I wanted this moment to last forever.


End file.
